
Reflecting on President Trump’s first 100 days in office
Flexible regulatory approaches emerged by necessity to allow FDA and USDA to respond to the public’s need for access to food, personal protective equipment, and other critical items. Designated “critical infrastructure sectors,” key industries required decisive shifts in how these agencies traditionally go about the business of regulation to protect public welfare during the evolving pandemic. Viewing agency actions through the lens of the food industry, this Article analyzes the key regulatory strategies used by FDA and USDA (in conjunction with CDC and other agencies), identifies key learnings from how those strategies worked in the initial phase of the COVID-19 crisis, and explores ways for regulatory agencies to build on those processes, both for future crisis response and day-to-day regulatory activities.
Read more - Agencies Unbound: How COVID-19 Prompted Regulatory Flexibility and What it May Mean for the Future